ASSHOLE!!!!

GOODBYE

     This morning I told my brother, who has been sleeping on my couch for the last 9 months, that it was time for him to leave. He has become too much of an issue for me to continue to deal with it. I have given him a lot of warnings in the past and I finally tired of his shit.

BACK STORY

      My brother is 17 years younger than me and has struggled with drugs since he was a teenager. He went to rehab an couple of years ago and seemed to be doing better so last year when I was losing my house I let him stay there rent free because he had no where to go. During this time I also had him watch my dogs in my apartment if I was working really long hours. Around mid-October I did a century bicycle ride and knew I would be gone a long time so I had him come over to watch the pups for the day. Somehow he ended up staying on my couch. It was never invited but 9 months later he is still here.
      Over the nine months I have had a variety of things come up missing. A Gerber utility tool, my I Touch, a digital camera, money on numerous occasions. Plus he would eat me out of house and home with out bothering to buy any sort of food or maybe even volunteer to walk the dogs without being asked. I have told him that this is my apartment and his friends are not welcome (sounds harsh but I know his friends). This being said I have no doubt he has had numerous friends over. The biggest clue was when he cleaned the apartment after I went to work. Well that and the women's underwear and dildos that I have found in his stuff while looking for my possessions.
     A couple of weeks ago when I got in my car my ashtray (where all non-smokers keep change) was open. I never do this. Then it happened again a couple of days later. So I got suspicious. As a photographer I notice little things that are out of place like that. SO my first thought was to check on the location of my 2 spare keys. I was right. One of them was missing. The next 10 days or so I would look thru his stuff to see if I could find the key. Well the first thing I found was a pipe used for smoking his drugs. Did I say he is a "recovering addict". I didn't find the key but I kept checking everyday. Usually when he headed to the bathroom or was on my patio with the blinds drawn. Today, after about 10 days of looking, I found the key. On a key ring sitting amongst his stuff he keeps on the coffee table. I waited a few minutes just to calm down and just as he was falling asleep I woke him up and asked him " So when are you moving and showed him he key I had found". He was a bit shocked. He excuse was that he had found it on the floor about a week ago. I called bullshit on this because I had discovered it before I left for vacation ( I wasn't going to put off my vacation). He said he got busy and forgot to give it back. You don't put it on a key chain if that's what happened. You put it on the counter with a note. I might have believed him if money wasn't missing again. I then told him that I couldn't trust him and he had to go.
     This is a short version with the basics of the story. I don't know what he is going to do for a place to stay but it was time for tough love. He makes more money than me. He could find an apartment in the shit hole I live in for about $550 a month. He is a union sound and lighting tech he should be able to afford that.
     I love my brother  but I am not going to be stolen from and lied to on a daily basis when I am payng his rent and buying his food. It went on way to long and I finally had to put my foot down.